imagination

Chapter 17

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Beomgyu was speechless as Taehyun retold his story. His jaw was agape as Taehyun described horror after horror. It all seemed like a movie where Taehyun was repeatedly beaten down. It seemed hard to believe. Yet coming from Taehyun's mouth, it couldn't be nothing further than the truth. Maybe that was his foolish heart talking, maybe that was his blind faith, but Beomgyu wanted to believe the younger with all his heart.

"When I entered this college," Taehyun continued, "I thought I could put that all in the past. I thought I could make friends and live normally, but Yeonjun was sure to fuck with me. Every time, I'd try to befriend someone, I'd see Yeonjun interact with them. And if Yeonjun, who's not real, interacts with them, then surely, they can't be real. He kept playing this game with me that I eventually stopped trying. It's not that I don't wanna make friends. I really do. I just don't know what's real and fake anymore."

Taehyun's voice cracked towards the end, the younger putting his head down and drowning his face in his hands. There was no amount of acting that could encapsulate the distress on Taehyun's figure. From the trembling, the way his face contorted, how his nails dug into his skin, and many other body languages that Beomgyu picked up on. How could anyone fake that?

Beomgyu hated himself for accusing Taehyun of such a thing.

"And then you came around."

Beomgyu looked at Taehyun with starstruck eyes, pointing at himself as if shocked. Taehyun pathetically laughed at the other's expression, "Yes you, idiot. I built my walls so high so I wouldn't get hurt and you just kept slamming into it until they broke down. I was so sure you were just some guy I dreamed up. You were too good to be true.

"Beomgyu Hyung... you reminded me of Yeonjun."

The ravenet felt his stomach flip. He didn't know how to feel about him reminding Taehyun of his degrading ghost boyfriend. But he kept his mouth shut, "Taehyun Ah.. I..."

"You don't have to believe me," Taehyun said, tucking his body in more, jerking away from Beomgyu, "It's fine... just leave me alone. Act like these past two month didn't exist and don't talk of this to anyone."

"Taehyun, no! I believe you," Beomgyu exclaimed, putting his hand on the younger's knee, "I just don't know what to say. So your dad..."

Taehyun shook his head, "He's dead. He's been dead for a while. Just, my mind tricks itself that he responds and it's just comforting to give into that. Same with Yeonjun."

"And this dorm? What's going on with it?" The elder asked, pointing to the building before them.

Taehyun followed Beomgyu's finger, looking up at the building with a disinterested glare, "This place is a prison."

"What do you mean?"

The younger sighed, leaning his head back against the pillar, keeping his eyes training the dormitory, "This place is made for handicapped kids. This school gives free rides to struggling students with disabilities. And as a way to keep us separate, they hide us in this building and label us as stuck-up rich kids. When in reality, we're probably the poorest in this school. They lie to everyone about us. But they don't care because they're giving us free education. We should be grateful to them or some dumb shit."

"What in the gaslighting?" Beomgyu muttered. It made Beomgyu's blood boil that their university was doing that to already disabled people, "So that girl from before... Chadyon, I think?"

"You mean Chaeryeong? She's the girl who lives next to me." Taehyun asked, "Have you talked to her?"

"Talk? She can talk? Shocker," Beomgyu shadily mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes at the thought of the girl.